Fascinating, Fun, & Free Engineering Insights & Resources

Resources:

Anytime I have to do the same calculation twice I start thinking about how to automate the process. The result is this collection of excel calculators & cheat sheets. You are invited to download these documents and use them as you wish, everything here is free and always will be! -Enjoy!

Intended for machinists needing good basic knowledge of machine set up as well as the experienced folks wanting to learn some good shortcuts. It isn’t dry and full of feeds and charts, just good basic info and excellent tips and tricks.

This book is a great test preparation tool and a great general reference to have anyway. Its full of specific equations and succinct theoretical explanations.
I have yet to take the PE exam, but when I took the FE exam I remember crushing it because I had studied the reference material itself. I didnt do any practice problems, just brush up on what equations are used when and reminded myself of some obscure material. You are allowed to use the book during the exam, so familiarizing yourself with it before hand is essential.

Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food by Jeff Potter

Although there is some organization to the book, like most cook books, it can be opened to any page, and there is likely to be something interesting to peruse. It is not put together as a textbook on cooking. If you enjoy experimenting, using the scientific method in your cooking, if your curiosity isn’t satisfied by just following a recipe time after time, you’ll enjoy this book.
It answer questions that most cook books don’t think about asking. And if you have any curiosity about why recipes turn out like they do, and are interested in experimenting, using a knowledge of chemistry and physics to improve your dishes, this is a great book.

Each chapter is a two-page spread with an illustration on one page and one-to-three paragraphs of text on the other. focuses on a given engineering concept. Some of the chapters feature appropriate quotes.
With great illustrations and brief descriptions, this book is a great intro to many useful ideas. Good bathroom book.

Each chapter (a two-page spread with an illustration on the left page and one-to-three paragraphs of text on the right page) focuses on a given concept that is important in architecture. Some of the chapters feature appropriate quotes.
With great illustrations and brief descriptions, this book is a great intro to many useful ideas. Good bathroom book.

Unwritten Laws of Engineering: Revised and Updated Edition by W.J. King

A quick read, this is a good one for anyone starting out as an engineer in any field. The book focuses on the soft skills aspect of the engineering what usually good engineers lack. Though its old, the ideas are about dealing people, so they are timeless.

This fully illustrated book introduces various design principles that truly are universal. It explains 150 concepts of design pertaining to disciplines including architecture, software design, security, marketing, and productivity. Every entry is concise, but includes at least one specific example. There is little to no room for misunderstanding.
This is more of a dictionary than an encyclopedia. It is not being marketed as a manual and should not be mistaken for one. Good short read / bathroom book.

How do you tell the difference between an introverted and extroverted engineer? An introverted engineer looks at his feet when he talks to you and an extroverted one looks at *your feet*.
Engineers are known for being smart folks, but not so much for their ability to communicate. This book is an excellent guide aid for those of us needing to develop on that weakness.

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams

Written by the creator of Dilbert comics, this book is more aptly described as ‘How to Think towards/about Success’. It is a book of opinions though ones that make good sense. The basic premise is that success is not easy… but it’s achievable for anyone.

This book is about how to make your ideas memorable! Weather its promoting a product or project, being a professional, forwarding a company’s strategy or lessons to students. Everything revolves around the SUCCESS methodology.

For an idea to stick, for it to be useful and lasting, it’s got to make the audience:
Pay attention – Unexpected
Understand and remember it – Concrete
Agree/Believe – Credible
Care – Emotional
Be able to act on it – Story.

Included here because this is a fascinating read for us folks who naturally understand machines but not so much on dealing with other people.
This book is a tool that will enable you to take your ideas farther and avoid being taken advantage of.

A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel

Show me an engineer uninterested in personal finance and I’ll show you an authentic photo of bigfoot. Seriously, proper money management skills has an outsize effect on your life and yet it is poorly covered in traditional education.
Not that there is a lack of info on this topic…there is an immense amount out there but the noise to signal ratio is too damn high!
If I had to recommend one signal book on the topic of managing your life savings, it would be this one!

Kudos for your willingness to share. I was looking for max loading for reciprocating lead screws which have rather wide customized applications, when I came upon your site. Guess I will have to make trials and errors to see their (Reciprocating Screws) “breaking” point, myself.

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